


Dangerous Game

by LintheWriter



Series: Orange [2]
Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven, American Horror Story: Murder House
Genre: Antichrist, Apocalypse, Bunkers, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:26:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24986770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LintheWriter/pseuds/LintheWriter
Summary: In Outpost Three, Lucy buries herself in books as she tries to forget her past but then a man shows up and decides her past should not be forgotten.This is also on Wattpad.
Series: Orange [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808674
Kudos: 4





	1. End of the World

The halls were quiet, almost everything in the correct order. The almost complete silence was uncomfortable to some people, Lucy included. But she preferred the silence to people talking while reading. Ocean Park Library was one of her favourite spots, even the librarians knew what days she came in and at what times.

As Lucy checked out a few new books, her phone screen lit up. A message from her parents for her to call them. She said farewell to the librarian before leaving with her new books to read. As she swung her backpack on her shoulder, she called her mom.

“Mom? What’s wrong?” she asked, holding her phone up to her ear. “Is everything okay?”  
“Your father needs to speak with you,” she said, almost on the verge of tears.  
“Mom? What is it?” she said, almost yelling down the phone. No response. She could hear distant sounds, shouts and cries and distant engines.

“Honey, remember when I worked for some people called the Cooperative?”  
“Yeah?” said Lucy, there was a sinking feeling in her chest.  
“Well, in the case of Nuclear fallout, I got given a ticket for myself and I brought you and your mother one. Your mother and I…” he trailed off.  
“Dad, I don’t understand…” said Lucy. She paused for a moment and leaned against a lampost. “It’s only half past twelve, I woke up just over an hour ago. I’m tired and confused. What’s going on?”  
“Ballistic missiles are going to hit all over the world.”

Lucy felt the phone slip from her grasp and it hit the floor. Quickly, she scrambled to pick it up. Thankfully the phone didn’t break, it just gained an extra dent on its side.  
“What?” she asked.  
“We’re not going to get to the airport in time to get to the shelter but you can. The missile is going to be sent in a few hours so you need to get to LA International Airport, okay? There’ll be a plane there ready to take you to the shelter. I love you, okay? Don’t forget that.”  
“We love you,” her mom said. It was almost too quiet to hear but Lucy had stopped paying attention to anyone else.

There was silence from the other side of the phone as her parents hung up. For a moment, Lucy just stared at her phone. As the information sunk into her brain, she held her phone tightly and looked at the streets. At first, Lucy began jogging home but as adrenaline set it, she ended up sprinting to her front door.

After unlocking the door, she shoved it open and didn’t bother shutting it. She emptied the contents of her bag only to stuff her charger, earphones and phone in there. She left the books on the floor but grabbed her purse. Running upstairs with her mostly open bag over one shoulder, she burst into her room and grabbed the photo album from in her draws. Next she grabbed her money box and emptied it onto the floor, grabbing the dollar bills and stuffing them inside her small purse. Deciding that the change wasn’t worth sorting through, she headed to her jewellry box and took out her necklace. She slipped it over her head before hurrying to close the zip on her backpack. In the kitchen drawer, she found the envelope with the tickets in. She gently put them in the smaller pocket of her backpack so they wouldn’t get crushed by anything else.

Feeling the energy vanish, Lucy sat on the floor at the foot of her bed for a few minutes before hauling herself to her feet and heading downstairs to get a drink. She tapped the counter as she quickly drunk the water. Looking at her open front door, she realised she’d have to leave now if she was going to get to the airport soon. Looking at her clock, she realised she’d need a taxi. It was already half past one.

Looking at her house, she fondly thought of some of the memories she had made in it with her friends and family before locking the front door. She couldn’t waste anymore time reminiscing.

Time to get a taxi to the airport.

A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back in the plane. It was only a small plane and there was only one pilot, Jazmin, who preferred Jaz.  
“We’re going to take off soon,” said Jazmin. Lucy looked away from the window to her pilot.  
“Why is there only one of you?”  
“The other is currently too drunk to even be near an airplane.”  
“That doesn’t sound good,” said Lucy. Jaz offered a sheepish smile.

“I’m Lucy, by the way. I feel a bit rude for not introducing myself earlier.”  
“It’s fine,” said Jaz. “You were distracted. We’re going to take off in half an hour.”  
“Do you have a ticket?”  
“For the Outpost?” asked Jaz. Lucy nodded, assuming that was the shelter. “No, I don’t.”  
“What?” asked Lucy. “Why? You’re… you’re the pilot.” The woman shrugged at her and Lucy bit her lip.

“You can have one of my parents’ tickets,” said Lucy. “They were in London so… yeah… but you can have one of the tickets.” Jaz gasped.  
“Really? You barely know me and… they’re for your parents.”  
“Well, they’re no good for my parents, you might as well use one,” said Lucy with a sad smile on her face.  
“Thank you.”

As the plane flew through the air, she could see a ball of fire erupt from below. Closing her eyes, she let out a shaky breath and leaned back in her seat.

Was surviving really worth it if all she had knew was gone?


	2. The Handmaid's Tale

“My name is Wilhemina Venable,” she introduced. “I am in charge of Outpost Three. You will follow the rules which are very simple. Leave and you will not be allowed back inside due to the risk of radiation contamination and there will be no copulation.”  
“Copulation?” asked Lucy.  
“No sexual contact.”  
“Lovely,” muttered Jazmin.  
“End of the world and I still can’t have sex,” joked Lucy causing Jaz to cover her mouth with her hand. Venable narrowed her eyes at them both but turned and walked through the Victorian-like fallout shelter.

“This is your suite, Ms. Williams. Evening wear is on the left side of the armoire. We dress for dinner, cocktails in the music room at 6:30. Be prompt. There’s no excuse for tardiness when there’s nothing else to do,” she said. “Ms. Cartwright, follow me to the dorms.”  
“Excuse me?” asked Jazmin.  
“Why does she have to go to dorms when I get a suite?”  
“You are a Purple, she will be a Gray. A worker ant,” explained Ms.Venable.

Lucy raised her eyebrow at the woman dressed in black. Clearly not a Purple or a Gray.  
“What is this? The Handmaid’s Tale?” asked Lucy.  
“This is not The Handmaid’s Tale, Miss WIlliams,” she Venable. “But the Grays here are grateful for the opportunity to survive.”  
“Well, why can’t she be Purple? She has a ticket that I gave her. This woman saved my life and I want her to be a Purple.” Ms. Venable glanced at Jaz and looked back at Lucy. Lucy lifted her chin a bit higher and rested a hand on her hip.  
“Then she will be a Purple,” she said reluctantly.

Walking into her suite, Lucy sighed. Spotting the armoire in the candlelight, she pulled open the doors and stared at the clothing. The clothing would have been beautiful, Victorian-inspired dresses if it weren’t for the colours. Everything was in various shades of purple. Lavender, lilac, violet, magenta.  
“This isn’t like the Handmaid’s Tale at all,” she muttered to herself. “World’s gone to shit, colour coded clothing to determine rank, radioactivity. No, nothing like it.”

Pulling out a dress which was a lighter shade of purple, Lucy held it against her side and looked in the mirror. It could be worse. Lucy gentle pulled her necklace over her head and put it on the dressed before changing into the provided dress.

With nothing else to do, Lucy and Jaz sat next to each other on one of the leather couches. Jaz chatted away, complaining about how Venable wanted to make her a Gray but Lucy was too distracted.  
“There’s so many books in here,” she said.  
“Huh?” asked Jaz. “Books? That’s what you’re bothered about?”

They were silenced by the noise of a walking stick hitting the ground.  
“More people should be arriving soon,” said the stern looking woman as she narrowed her eyes at them. The two women, now dressed in purple, sat on the couches and stared at her.  
“How many more people?” asked Jazmin.  
“Four, possibly less, possibly more.” Lucy saw her new friend roll her eyes at the figure of authority in front of them. “But you will look presentable for the newcomers, it would not do well to give them a bad impression of you.”

When Ms. Venable left to greet the new people and show them around the Outpost, Jaz groaned and slouched on the couch.  
“She’s weird,” said Jaz. “I don’t like her.”  
“I don’t think I like her much either,” said Lucy. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t get a God Complex from being in charge of the survivors.”

The first of the new people arrived, a woman dressed in purple. She had an air of intelligence and poise as she walked over to them.  
“Hello,” she greeted.  
“Hey,” said Lucy. “I’m Lucy, Lucy Williams.”  
“Jazmin Cartwright, but I prefer Jaz.”  
“Dinah Stevens.” She sat on the empty couch, sitting up straight with perfect posture, unlike the other two women. “My son Andre is also with me, if you were wondering. With his boyfriend Stu.”

The two men joined them later on, holding hands but looking pretty bitter about something.  
“Why is there a rule about not having sex?” Stu grumbled.  
“It is a bit strange,” agreed Lucy. “But at least we get to survive the apocalypse.”

A woman called Ms. Mead introduced herself to the group of five and announced that there would be more people joining them shortly. Within a few minutes, said people appeared. A man dress in purple with short hair, an older woman also dressed in purple and in the lead was a blonde woman who strutted towards the couches followed by a new Gray. The older woman looked as though she hated the blonde woman as she glared at her almost constantly.

“I am not enjoying this apocalypse.”


	3. Reading Books

Lucy raised her eyebrows at the woman who the Gray called Coco. The Gray was apparently Mallory. The other two were Mr. Gallant and his ‘Nana’ Evie. The five already there introduced themselves politely, regardless of how rude Coco was or how cold Evie was. Mallory was called away to work almost immediately after Coco sat down.

“There's nothing to do,” complained Coco for what must have been the fourth time in an hour. She stamped her heels on the floor like an angry toddler.  
“There's plenty of books,” Lucy pointed out as she wondered how many books were on the shelves of the Outpost.  
“No one reads anymore,” Coco said. “Not physical books, at least. It's so much easier to read on your phone.”  
“We don't have phones anymore,” said Dinah. “I guess we'll have to do without. It doesn’t bother me too much, they only provided temporary happiness.”

“Isn't all happiness temporary?” asked Lucy.  
“Oh no,” said Mr. Gallant. “We are not having one of those deep existential crisis discussions.”  
“Why not? It would pass the time until dinner,” said Evie.  
“Uh, maybe it’s because I don’t want to be reminded of ninety-five percent of the world being dead outside?” replied Gallant.

Everyone just kind of sat around, waiting for dinner. Andre and Stu flirted with each other as Stu sat on the arm of the couch and Andre sat next to him. Evie sat on the other end of that couch while Dinah kept walking back and forth, restless like everyone else. One the other couch, Jaz, Lucy and Coco were squished together with Gallant perched on the arm of it like Stu. More accurately, Coco took up half of the couch while Jaz and Lucy were squashed on the other half.

They were all called to dinner not long after, to almost everyone’s delight. As they sat at the dining table, they waited patiently for the Grays to serve food. Soon enough, Ms. Venable sat down at the head of the table and plates were placed in front of them. They were uncovered to reveal a small translucent cube.  
“What is this?” asked Andre.  
“This cube contains all the vitamins and nutrients your body could possibly need,” said Venable. “This is what we will be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for at least the next few months.” Jaz and Lucy exchanged nervous glances before eating the jelly-like cube.

“There are quite a few books,” said Jaz as she followed her friend around the edge of the room. She examined the spine of every book. Most were blank, some had unrecognisable and barely understandable titles. Some had familiar titles, Stephen King and classic books like Dracula and Great Expectations. “Do you like like read then?”  
“I’m always reading,” said Lucy. “I had just left the library with some new books when my parents called me and told me to get to the airport.”

Lucy paused for a moment, her fingers resting on the edge of the shelf as she thought. The library seemed so long ago, now it was gone. Jaz noticed and pulled a book from the shelf. She opened it and stared at the pages. Lucy peered over her friend’s shoulder.  
“I have no idea what it says,” said Jaz as she went to shut it again. Lucy stopped her and gently pulled it from her friend’s grasp.

“I think it’s Latin,” she said.  
“Latin?”  
“Yeah,” said Lucy as she read through the pages. The words made little sense, ramblings about fires of some sort. The pages were rough, thicker than most modern pages. It was quite heavy for one of the thinner books. It did have the smell of old paper which Lucy adored.

“You can read Latin?”  
“I used to be able to,” she said. “I can kind of remember it. I haven’t seen any books in Latin like this before though.”  
“Why can you read Latin?” asked Jaz, staring at her friend with raised eyebrows. Lucy looked up at her as she shut the book.  
“I got bored and my friends said I couldn’t do it,” she explained as she put the book back on the shelf. “I was determined to prove them wrong.”

“You are so strange,” sighed Jazmin.  
“Oh well,” shrugged Lucy. “You can’t say I’m boring though, can you?”  
“I don’t know,” joked Jaz with a smile. “I have only known you for a day.” Lucy nodded in agreement as she pulled out a book with gold lettering on its side.  
“We are friends though, right?”  
“Well it’d be awfully difficult if we weren’t.”

The two smiled at each other for a while until they heard a walking stick behind them. Ms. Venable.  
“We were just on our way to join the others,” said Lucy with a smile.


	4. Two Weeks Later

“Do I have to?” asked Lucy as she set down the book she held in her hands. Jaz rolled her eyes at her. “But they just do the same thing every evening!”  
“You sound like a five year old.”  
“Maybe I am secretly a five year old,” said Lucy as she stood up. Jasmin’s hands rested on her hips. “Fine.”

Jaz and Lucy walked into the music room to see a familiar scene: Stu in Andre’s Arms, Gallant sitting on the arm of a couch, Coco being served by Grays. The song playing from the radio was the same as every night. The Carpenters. Everything was so repetitive.

“This song,” groaned Gallant as he pinched his nose. “The same one every night.”  
“Oh, here we go,” muttered Stu with a roll of his eyes.  
“Where is it even coming from? And why do we have to listen to it? What are we missing here?”  
“About 99% of the world's population,” said Stu.

“Would've been better off dying with them,” said Gallant as he paced around. Everyone knew he didn’t mean it, he never meant half of the things he said.  
“Speak for yourself, darling.”  
“Wouldn't have to drink this, whatever this is,” he said while picking up a glass filled with clear liquid from the tray Mallory was holding.  
“It's mineral water,” said Andre. It seemed everyone was fed up with Gallant complaining already.

As Lucy and Jaz sat near Evie, they saw Mallory and Coco whispering about something.  
“It just plays over and over, 24 hours a day,” Gallant whined while touching Coco’s hair. He had done her hair yet again and was clearly proud of it.  
“It's like Satan's Spotify playlist.” Andre laughed at his boyfriend’s remark and Lucy was already regretting coming to the music room instead of hiding away with a book.

Everyone turned to the door, hoping someone other than Ms. Venable walked in. That was the only way this could get worse.  
“Oh,” said Evie. “Well, well, well. New blood.” Lucy looked at the two new people. Two teenagers by the look of it, both in purple.  
“Come in. Don't be shy,” said Dinah, speaking up as she walked over to greet them.

“You're Dinah Stevens,” he said, in awe of the woman. “My mother used to watch your show. She said you beat the pants off Oprah any day.”  
“Bless her heart.” She smiled at the boy. He only seemed a few years younger than herself. “A million of her and I wouldn't have been replaced by that telenovela.” The boy furrowed his brow but anything he was going to say was interrupted as Gallant walked over.

“Um, what's happening out there?” he asked.  
“He’s going to regret asking that,” muttered Jaz. Lucy nodded in agreement.  
“It's all gone,” he said, looking to the floor. The girl glanced to her right at the boy.  
“Everything,” she added. There was the clicking at the walking stick and Jaz and Lucy exchanged glances. She stood between the two newcomers and ring a silver bell.

“Dinner is served.”

The Grays served everyone dinner as usual. The new girl looked down at her plate with disappointment.  
“It’s all we get,” said Gallant. “Don’t be too disappointed.”  
“Darling, you don't know what disappointment is - until you've slept with Yul Brynner,” said Evie. Dinah laughed at her words while Lucy covered her mouth with her hand as she smiled at Coco’s annoyed eye roll.   
“I want to die,” said Gallant. Yet again, everyone knew he didn’t mean it.

“The cube on your plate contains every vitamin our body needs,” said Dinah in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Or so they tell us.”  
“I'm still hungry,” Coco complained. “I am so tired of the hunger.”  
“Being tired of hunger is better than being dead,” said Jasmin. Coco glared at the cube on the plate and stood up.  
“Fuck this bullshit! With all the thought that went into this place, they don't have a single bag of Pirate's Booty in the pantry? For a hundred million dollars a ticket, I expect goddamn Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen cooking us real food!”

As Coco ranted, she failed to notice the loud taps of a walking stick on the floor.

Ms. Venable.


	5. Perimeter Alert

Everyone looked down at the plate to avoid the gaze of Ms. Venable who stood behind Coco. Gallant drank from his wine to watch Coco turn around and realise what Venable had heard. Venable slapped Coco, the noise echoing in the room. The woman fell into Timothy who helped Coco stand up. Everyone stared at Venable and Mead in shock.

“I'm going to be very clear so there will be no misunderstanding,” Ms. Venable said. Coco turned to face Venable, holding her hand on her cheek. “We have enough nutrition for the next 18 months. And if our situation doesn't improve, you can count on less and less.” Coco sat back down, realising she wouldn’t get an apology.

“Situation? What is our situation?” asked Gallant. For once, Lucy was glad he spoke, asking what she thought.  
“We had a perimeter alert this morning. Something penetrated the grounds,” said Ms. Venable. “It was a carrier pigeon, delivering a message from our benefactors.”  
“Wait. A pigeon? Can we eat it?” gasped Coco, hopeful for something better to eat that vitamin cubes.  
“It was contaminated by the fallout,” replied Ms. Mead.  
“Can we boil it?” asked Evie. Lucy nodded in agreement, the could decontaminate it, right?

“There are no more governments,” said Venable, ignoring Evie’s question altogether. “Only rotting mounds of corpses, too many to bury. Starving people kill for a piece of bread. Three outposts have been overrun. We are the last vestiges of civilized life on the planet. Be vigilant.”  
“Everything we know is gone,” said Mead, making everything slightly worse for Lucy to process.

“How could everything fail in two weeks?” asked Jaz. “There was no back ups or anything? How was it that fragile?”  
“It was always fragile,” said Mead. “They made you think the system was a rock. It was a water balloon.  
“A water balloon?” Lucy heard Coco mutter and roll her eyes.  
“One prick of the needle and…” Mead popped her lips to imitate the sound of a balloon popping, “that's all it took.”

“We will only survive if we follow the rules.” The tall woman of the staff whispered to Mead. She looked concerned for a moment before turning to Venable.  
“There's a problem,” she loudly told Venable. “We've detected a spike in the background radiation, centered in this room.”  
“It's them,” said Gallanted as he pointed to Timothy and Emily. “They just came from the outside.  
“No, no,” Emily said defensively. “We were checked when we got here. “We're clean!”  
“We went through decontamination. We were cleared.”

Mead was handed a Geiger counter and Lucy turned to Jaz.  
“How could someone get contaminated?” she asked. Jaz shrugged.  
“It’s not you, is it? You spend the least time around everyone,” she said. Lucy shook her head, surprised her friend would accuse her of doing such a thing.  
“No,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to risk contaminating everyone.”

“Place your hands on the table,” ordered Mead. “And don't move.” The Geiger counter was clicking. “Radioactive contamination is a grave risk to our entire community. The clean rule is there to protect all of us. A single stray gamma particle can cause skin lesions. Your DNA breaks apart, your body disintegrates.”  
“Sorry, did you just say ‘gamma particle’ cause gamma radiation is a ray,” said Lucy.  
“Silence,” said Venable, hitting her walking stick off the ground. Flinching, Lucy shut her mouth and stayed quiet.

“You'll wish you died in the blast. But someone here decided that their individual needs were more important. Someone went outside. Touched something dirty.” The Geiger counter carried on clicking. It got louder as Mead neared Venable. “It makes me sick to think this person was selfish enough to risk contaminating us all.”  
“No,” said Gallant, his eyes wide with fear. “No, no, no no, no. That's a mistake, because the only thing I've touched is Coco's hair.”

But Coco was clean.

“She's clean,” said Mead, a frown on her face. “You're dirty.”  
“No.” Gallant had been in the room with all the others though, how could he have left with no one noticing? “This is impossible! That machine is wrong.”  
“This is outrageous!” exclaimed Evie with a look of indignation.

Lucy zoned out from everyone as they shouted for everything to stop and to bring back Gallant. She wasn’t sure how he had gotten outside but if he really was contaminated, it was better to be safe than sorry. As Gallant and Stu were dragged from the room, Lucy hoped they would be okay.


End file.
